Music printing or typewriting machine



Jo 395G J. M. PARKER 2,494,192

MUSIC PRINTING OR TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 15, 1946 e Sheets-Sheet 1 J. M. PARKER 2,4943% musxc PRINTING OR TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1s, 1946 6 Sheets- Sheet 2 J m, 1950 J. M. PARKER MUSIC PRINTING 0R TYPEWRITING MACHINE 65 64 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 13, 1946 Jwis Jane m, 1195@ J. M. PARKER 2,494,192

musxc PRINTING 0R TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 1s, 1.946 s Sheets-Sheet 4 V W/(EPVFOZ b #11455 V4% 45x56 m, 1950 J. M. PARKER MUSIC PRINTING 0R TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 J. M. PARKER MUSIC PRINTING 0R TYPEWRITING MACHINE Jan. W, 1950 a Shets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 13, 1946 Patented Jan. 10, 1950 OFFICE MUSIC PRINTING OR TYPEWRITING MACHINE James Murray Parker, Glenbuntly, Victoria, Australia Application September 13, 194.6, Serial No. 696,805 In Australia October 23, 1945 Claims. (01. 197- 8) This invention relates to the printing or typewriting of music and has for its general object to provide a machine whereby music may be printed or type-written in a most accurate .and

legible manner and with the utmost speed and I convenience.

Hitherto, where a relatively small number of copies is required, music script has generally been copied by hand or, perhaps, reproduced by photographic process. In any event, the production of copies in such manner is relatively lengthy, tedious and costly while the copies often suffer partial illegibility.

In cases where a relatively large number of copies is required, a master or original is fre- 2 ciated parts towards the rear may be more clearly shown.

Figure 3 is a rear view showing the platen, the back plate and the carriage.

Figure 4 is a rear view of the platen and I associated parts.

4 Figure 5 is a sectional view on line V--V of Figure 4.

quently prepared by hand whereupon a. photolithographic plate is produced from the original although in some cases the master or original script is initially engraved upon a copper or pewter plate by hand. In other cases, a special music type is set up and utilized forprinting the copies. All of these methods and procedures have been found to be unsatisfactory for one reason or another. Generally speaking, they are diflicult, tedious and expensive to follow and the reproduced copies are often found to be faulty and lacking in clarity.

I am aware that various attempts have hitherto been made to devise a music printing or typewriting machine but to the best of my knowledge none of such. prior proposals have been found to be practicable or capable-of yielding satisfactory results due to their being too slow in operation, excessively difficult or inconvenient to manipulate and imposing considerable strain upon the vision of the operator.

The present invention, which. is. the result of years of study, research and experiments, provides a machine which I believe to be satisfactory from every point of view and from which .I have Figure 6 is a perspective view. showing back spacing traversing means for the platen carriage.

Figure 7 is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view showing linkage and control devices, operable from the front of the machine, and illustrating the action of various parts of the machine.

Figure 8 is a front elevation of a shift lever and scale device for manipulating the platen up and down into predetermined positions.

I Figure 9 is a perspective view showing a symbol striking finger and head and also a device for marking stave lines upon the paper.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the variable symbol striking finger and head as seen in Figure 9 but in which the striking head has been adjusted into an alternative position.

Figure 11 is .a diagrammatic view of part of the stave printing device.

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a clutch device, shown in the disengaged position, as incorporated in the linkage seen in Figure 7.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the said clutch device in an engaged position.

. Figure 14 is a perspective view of a modified form of symbol striking finger and head combined with a Vee guide.

Figure. 15 is an enlarged side view of the variable striking head of Figure 14, showingthe control member in three different positions.

obtained surprisingly good results in experiments.

The above and various other objects of the invention and the salient features thereofwill be more readily appreciated from the following description and accompanying drawings relating to a machine which at present is preferred although it is susceptible to various modifications, refinements and/or additionsas will occur. to those versed in the art after having considered this specification.

In the drawings Figure 1. is a perspective viewof a machine according to one form of the invention.

Figure 2 is another perspective view but omitting certain parts so that the platen and assoplaten carrier.

Figure 16 is a diagram indicating certain operational properties of the machine. Figure 1'7 is a rear perspective view of a modified form of platen and supporting means. Figure 18 is a rear perspective view of the Figure 19 1s a front perspective view of the modified platen assembly.

The machine comprises a framework F for supporting various parts which include a key board K, a bank B of fingers carrying striking heads, linkage L. between the key board and the bank of fingers, an inked ribbon R, a platen P forsupporting the paper to be printed on, mechanisn'i for traversing the platen horizontally, and

mechanism for raising and. lowering the platen and also for swivelling it in a vertical plane into 3 predetermined positions, as will be hereinafter fully described.

lhe platen P is generally in the form of a rectangular board of appropriate area and of sufficient thickness as to render it relatively rigid. This platen may have rollers 2, with longitudinal slots 2a, extending transversely along its top and bottom edges for the purpose of retaining the paper A in position with abilityto wind up the paper as writing of the music proceeds. In some cases, especially when writing music or orchestral scores, a larger platen may be employed and the paper may be pinned or otherwise fastened thereto.

The platen may be secured to a back plate 3 adapted to move along upper and lower rails 4, 5', of a vertically adjustable frame 6 as best seen in Figure 2. For this purpose, the back plate 3.may be provided at its four corners with flanged rollers whichtrack along the upper and lower rails 4., 5.

Reference will now be made to the mechanism for vertical adjustment of the platen. According thereto, the said vertically adjustable frame is provided with endbrackets 8 capable of sliding up and down around vertical pillars 9 upstanding from the main frame work. The adjustable frame is connected at each side by connecting rods H. to. arms 12 outstanding from transverse shaft [3 to which a shift lever M is connected, this lever projecting forwardly at one side of the machine, preferably the left hand side, and being adapted to co-operate with a scale device S as hereinafter described.

In order to permit of line adjustment of the platen so that it may be set in precisely the desired alignment, screw turnbuckles lla may be interposed in the connecting rods II to enable their effectivelengths to be varied and thusraise or lower the frame at either side as may be found necessary.

The scale device 5 (see .particularly Figure 8) may comprise two rearwardly and upwardly inclinedbars Hi to each of which is attached a series of horizontal transverse strips I] so arranged as to leave a continuous vertical path between their inner ends and slots Ila between the strips. The strips at one side are staggered in relation to the strips at the other side. The

shift lever M is adapted to .move with .a swinging motion about shaft -13 through the vertical path and is also capable of slight movement to the right and to the left by medium of the .rear end of the lever having apivotal connection as at 8 to arm ill outstanding :from the transverse shaft 1-3. Thereby it becomes possible to move the-shift .lever into any one ofthe slots Ila and thus adjust the platen vP vertically into any desired position. The groups of the opposed staggered strips may be numbered.1,2, 3, i, 5 and 1, 2,3, 4 respectively,

7 or otherwise. marked, so, as to denote respectively the five lines and the four intervening spaces of musical staves;

It is a simple matter for the operator, by upward or downward swingingof the shift lever I4 followed by slight movement to the right or to the-left, to adjust the platen into such a position that upon striking any one of the keys of the key board K, a musical note or other symbol as used in music will -be written or typed in the xprecise position where it is desired.

In order to relieve the staggered strips 1.1, which may -be relatively fragile, from being .re- .peatedly engaged by the shift lever, two series o'flpins or studs 2 I, Figure 1, may project in staggered relationship immediately behind the respective strips to form abutments against which the shift lever can bear when moved into its adjusted positions.

The platen P is preferably swivel mounted so that it may be tilted to the right and the left while remaining in a vertical plane and thus enable inclined lines, indicating for instance crescendo, diminuendo and other side markings as used in music, to be built up by relatively short strokes extending in continuation of each other. For such purpose, the platen P (see Figures 3 and 4) has a centrally located pin 22 projecting horizontally and rearwardly through bearing hole 23 in the back plate 3. The pin may be screw threaded at its rear end and receive a washer 24, spring :25 and a nut 26.

order to facilitate retention of the platen in any desired position of adjustment, a quadrant 2! is applied to the back plate and has its peripheral edge 21a concentric with bearing hole 23 and. provided with notches 211; into any one of which 'a springy finger 28, carried by the platen, will'enter and thus temporarily retain the platen in any swivel adjusted position.

The platen and its back plate are traversed horizontally by medium of a carriage C and various operative-connections which will be described, and provision is'made whereby the platen and the back plate are connected to the carriage in such manner that the platen and plate may be moved vertically withoutjaffecting their horizontal traversing, and vice-versa. For this purpose, the back plate may be provided at its rear with a verticaljguide rail 3! (Figure 3) which is engaged at opposite sides by two rollers 32 appropriately mo'tmted on the carriage. Spindles 33 carrying the rollers 32' may project fromblocks 34 which 'are-slidable along a transverse shaft 35 supported by carriage C, so thatlateral adjustments maybe made between the back plate and the carriage.

Traversing of the carriage C (carrying the back plate 3 and platen P) may be effected by any suitable means but should preferably include provisionfor (a) automatic movement of the carriage one space to the left after each note, symbol or the like has been written on the paper,

(11) step by step spacing to the left without actuating the keyboard,

(0) manually operable means to put (a) temporarily out of action so as to facilitate the build 'ingup of'musical chords, arpeggio signs and other musical markings or lines which require vertical alignment or continuity,

id) back spacing of the carriage, and

(2)," continuous or uninterrupted movement .for quicktraversing of the carriage.

Before describing how these actions can be brought about it will be convenient to refer to the mounting. of the carriage C. As better seen in Figures .3, 6 and 7, the carriage may conveniently take the general form of an inverted boxlike structure within which certain escapement mechanism is housed as will be hereinafter described. In any event, the carriage may be provided ator near .its four corners with wheels 31 adapted to track along horizontal rails 33 supported upon the mainframe work F. In addition, a bar 39 secured to the bottom of the carriage may have end brackets 4| apertured to slide along aguide rod 42.

Referringnow to Figure 7 which illustrates traversing action '(a),, on'ejo'f the keysilcof the-keyboard K is shown upstanding from the forward end of a rod 44, which is pivoted about the bearing 46. When the said key 7c is depressed in order to bring the appropriate striking finger into operation, a yoke 41 of U form which is normally maintained in contact with the rod 44 by springs 48 is also depressed and imparts turning motion through the linkage 49 to transverse shaft 5!. Shaft 5| is connected as by linkage 52 through medium of a clutch device 53 to a spindle 54 extending from front to rear. At its rear end, spindle 54 has an arm 55 connected by link 51 to a transversely elongated rotary frame 58 which, when turned in the appropriate direction through medium of the aforesaid mechanism, acts upon an appropriately shaped end portion of a rod 59 outstanding from a spindle 6| which extends transversely within the carriage housing. 7

Spindle El has a spur S2 with depending fingers connected at its lower end to an escapement device denoted generally by numeral 63 and which may be of known form as incorporated in conventional type-writing or similar machines. For example, such device may include a double pawl acting upon a ratchet wheel 64 mounted on spindle 6B borne by carriage C and provided at its opposite ends with toothed pinions 6! for (20- the rotary frame 58 by means of a spring H associated with spindle 6i and engagement between the frame and the said rod occurs irrespective of 'the position of the carriage brought about by its traversing movements.

' Traversing action (12) can be readily efiected by operation of a conventional space bar 69 pivotally supported from shaft Ill from which linkage Ilia extends to shaft 54 as seen in Figure'l.

In the description relating to traversing action (a), it has been assumed that the aforesaid clutch 53 is engaged. When it is desired to obtain traversing action the clutch 53 disengaging lever 12 is operated in the direction of the arrows in Figure '7. Referring to Figures 12 and 13, the

clutch comprises two collars, one of which 13 is" fixed to spindle while the other I4 is slidable lengthwise along the spindle and for that purpose may be provided with a peripheral groove Muengaged at opposite sides by studs 16 upstanding from floating plate H which rests upon the arm 18 pivoted at 79 and connected at its other end to the rear end of lever '12. The fixed collar has an outstanding lug 13a to which one end of a link 8!! is pivoted, the other end of the link being connected by a member 52a of the linkage 52 to the operating shaft 5| (Figure '7). v In the disengaged position of the clutch, as seen in Figure 12, the sliding collar M is moved away from the fixed collar 13 with the result that during downward movement of link 52a-arising out of the depression of key is, link 80 swings freely about its pivot on lug 73a into the dotted line position and consequently no turning motion is imparted to the spindle 54. When the sliding collar 14 is moved towards the fixed collar 13 as shown-in Figure 13, so that'the periphery of the sliding collar comes beneath the intermediate portion of link 80, and the link 52a is depressed,

. then the fixed collar will be turned .in the direction "of the arrow by co-operation of link with -'thelug 13d and thus turn the spindle 54. i

cessive striking of the same key, or different keys,

of; the keyboard K can produce markings in vertical alignment or vertical continuity upon the paper.

-Referring now to transversing action (d) of the carriage, (i. e. back spacing), this may be brought about by manipulation of lever 83 in the direction of the arrow in Figure 6 which turns shaft 84 and moves link 85 to the right which, in turn, causes spindle 86 to be turned in the direction of the arrow. This action, through medium of arm 81, moves link 88 in the direction of the arrow. Link 88 has a pin and slot connection 89 with bracket 90 secured to a toothed rack assembly 9! slidably supported This rod carries a collar 93 between which and the adjacent end of the rack assembly is a coiled spring 94.

The shaft 86 carries a collar 96 from which projects an arm 91 which has supported thereon a yoke 98 connected at its remote extremity by link 99 to a second rotary frame IUEI. This rotary frame is mounted upon the rod 92 by means of collars lill. This frame will rotate in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 6 and depress a spring infiuenceddetent member H12 pivoted on the carriage bar 39 so that it engages with the rack assembly 9|. The arm 91 is resiliently connected as by spring N33 to yoke 98 for the purpose of relieving detent member Hi2 of excess pressure which might otherwise arise from pull on lever 83, it being understood that once 'memberlflz is'engaged in the rack 9|, the latter is traversed and takes the carriage bar and carriage with it. Continued movement of arm 91 is compensated by expansion of spring The operation of the escapement device 63 in the carriage housing has previously been described and it will be appreciated that when the back" space lever 83 is operated, the carriage is displaced lengthwise along shaft 66 for convenience of illustration.

When the back space lever is released, it and all parts actuated thereby will return to the "normal position under influence of spring I01,

the detent member I02 being withdrawn by its associated spring from rack 9|.

Anadjustable stop I05 is associated with back space lever 83 in order to limit its outward movement.

- In order to obtain traversing action (e) so that 70' the carriage C may be quickly traversed in either direction, control member HI (Figures ,3 and 7) is actuated as by being depressed against springinfluence in order to operate upon the ratchet pawl of the escapementfdevice 5,3 and throw the latter'out of action. With the parts in that condition, it will be apparent that there fit-ightby hand operation against the 131111 :of pulsleysfl. Manual traversing :of the carriage may he .iiacilitated by providing ,it with a suitably shaped ,and disposed hand grip H2 somewhat 1&3 indicated in Figure :3.

"Ilhe inked ribbon B. may, as in conventhmal .typewriting machines, be coiled .at opposite :ends around two :spools 113 (Figure 1) suitably supponted at opposite sides of the machine, the :rihbon guided by guide :-ro11ers 1" 14. Automatic feeding of the ribbon may be effected by lecnnect-i-ng the spindle of one of the reels :4 l3 '{Figure .7?) by linkage -l lfito shaft 5| If desired, provision may-bemade for progres- -;siv.e'ly inking the ribbon by :causing :it .to pass between ink impregnated felt or :like covered rollers :(not shown).

-An;y suitable .means may be provided to-auto- :m aticallyraise thatportion of the ribbon through the typing impressions are made, :simul- -taneously with depression of the -keys Ilc of the zkey hoard :K. Thus, as will be apparent from figure l7, shaft 51 is connected by linkage .H-I :Ito :shait JIB having an outstanding :arm H9 engagin a finger projecting from the lowers-exetremity of a :vertically reciprocable .forkmem'ber 1123] between the prongs of which the ribbon travels.

lStave lines may be produced by repeatedopaeration of a suitable key on the keyboard K,-but,

for the purposes of speed, it is preferred -=-.that ouch lines should berproduced by arprinting-rroller .119 (Figures -9 and 11) arranged about a yer- -:tical axis and having a set :or :sets of live appropriately spaced circumferential peaks which :rbearvby spring pressure against an inking roller r01 pad 12 at one side and, at the otherside, bear against the face of the paper A'.(F!ig ure:11-l "-Ihus, with traversing action -.(e),, continuous stave lines can be produced with the utmost speed, clarity and uniformity.

Thestave lines producing device 2120, vlzdpmay he lmounted upon :a member' lfl'carried by amod I23 having a portion I230, pivoted to a bracket 4 2d, which itself is pivotally retained to a :suit- .able stationar part 126, :so that when-:not :re-

. uiredfor use the device may be swung into an .outof the way position as indicatedby dotted lines .in-Figure 9.

Ill-1e be. of fingers 'B may :be arranged approximately {semimircular formation asrindicate'd in .-Elgnr1e l, and the fingersare-adapted through :the linkage L .indiriduallyrtosstri-ke through "rib- ..hon R-lonto the paper. :Such linkage may be-of conventional form as embodied .in 'typewriting :machines and therefore [does not call for detailed description but can readilybeseenrin Figure 725 connected to rod 44 aoperated by one'ofthe Keys of theke-ybcard K.

According to the embodiment illustrated -:Figures 9 and to -.each3finger 1&13 I :is of-well'known the linger it! is assumed to beimovinginwardly in-order that symbol to) will strike.

In order to indicate to the operator-the posi- ,tion at which any symbol will be produced upon thepaper, an indicator, advantageously inlrthe form ofa strip 13B of transparent material may .be pivoted as at I31 and provided near one end with an arrow or like marking 138, which, when theindica-tor has been swung into operative'position, willbe located vertical alignment wit-nth zone of impression -or striking.

.A new and preferred form of variable :striklng head which permits of co-operation with a Mac .guide is illustrated inFigures l4 and 15, accordwith Vee guide 145 attached to supporting yplate ll it! .for thebank of fingers represented at Ba. Striking head it! is normally retained in 3th .ir .strikingpositionby means :of spring Jill and by limit .stop l52. When it is desired .to adjust .thehead into the y strikinglposition, control member 1.5.3, shown .as a vertically reciprocable arm, is lowered from the normal position, indicated .byldotted lines .inFigure 15., .into the unbroken line position vand, in so doing, engages a roller 15A projecting from the striking head .and. causes the latter to be turned aboutits pivot M4, so that symbol "y comes into the striking position. To bring symbol z.int.othe. striking position, downward movement of control .mem-

ber 533 is continued to the positionindicatedby chain lines in Figure 15, stop I preventing turning of the head beyond the 72 position.

The control member .153 may be conveniently actuated by lever .l Slpivoted to plate UH and terminating. in an index pointer I510: associated-with scale markings corresponding to the striking positions of head I41. i

.Figure ,16 illustrates by way. of example, some possible ways. of ,producing continuous inclined markings in a simple andconvenient manner. Thus assuming that one of the symbols is an inclined line l5! of the height of two spaces of the stave, then to obtain .a precise downward continuation of the marking, the platen would be traversed one space to the left and raised two spaces, whereupon the same key would be. again actuated to give the desired result as indicated by broken lines. For inclined markings. U52 of lesser angles, the platen would be traversed two spaces to the left and raised two spaces between consecutive actuations of the same key. Other possibilities as to the production of 'difierent inassembly which enables rapid vertical adjust- :ment of the platen from treble (upper) to bass (lower) staves and vice-versa without having to operate shift lever M. According thereto the "platen P itself is carried by a rectangular frame I? (Figure 17) which is adjustable vertically'in eaccazrrier H2 eiFigurelB) which may be-swivel connected :to back plate 3 by elements 22, 28,14,

176 25713.net Z6 similarto those described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. The slotted rollers 2 for supporting the paper are mounted at the bottom and top of the platen frame I! I.

In Figure 19 the platen and its frame are shown in a lowered position within the carrier I72 in which condition music will be written in or adjacent the treble stave. To change over to the base stave it is merely necessary to raise the platen by upward movement of finger piece I13 attached to the platen. A trip lever I14 is pivoted to finger piece 173 and is connected with a spring H6 which tends to pull the trip lever away from the finger piece. The trip lever extends through a slot I77 in the carrier I12. When the platen reaches its raised (base) position, the trip lever is freed from slot Ill and is moved sidewise, against stop 178, so that its lower extremity rests upon the top of the carrier, thereby maintaining the platen in the raised position.

To permit lowering of the platen, the operator merely applies side pressure against the trip lever I74 50 that it may re-enter slot Ill, downward movement of the platen being limited by the lower part of the frame I'H contacting with the carrier.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have produced a machine, by which music can be written in a most expeditious and convenient manner without imposing any undue strain upon the operator and without requiring any special skill on his or her part.

A particular advantage is the ease by which the platen can be vertically adjusted into predetermined positions by the shift lever l4, and the visibility afforded by the scale device S. In this connection, it may be mentioned that greater convenience will be obtained if the markings denoting stave lines (at the left of Figure 8) are displayed in white upon a black or dark background and the markings denoting spaces at the right are displayed in black upon a white background.

For similar reasons, the strips I! at the left may be coloured white and those at the right coloured black.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a music writing machine, a platen for supporting paper to be written upon, and means spaces of a musical stave, a lever adapted to be moved with a swinging motion lengthwise through said pathway and having capacity for limited sidewise movement into any of said slots, and operative connections for translating said swinging motion of the lever into vertical movement of said platen.

2. In a music writing machine, a combination according to claim 1, wherein said operative connections extend between said lever and a vertically adjustable frame by which said platen is carried.

3. In a music writing machine, a combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said operative connections comprise an arm having a pivotal connection about a vertical axis to the rear end of said lever, said arm outstanding from and turning with a transverse shaft which is connected at each end to opposite sides of a vertically adjustable frame by which said platen is carried.

4. In a music writing machine, a combination according to claim 1 and including secondary means operable independently of said swinging lever for rapid vertical adjustment of said platen into corresponding positions of upper (treble) and lower (bass) staves, said secondary means including a frame in which said platen is mounted, a carrier in which said frame and platen are vertically slidable through a distance corresponding to the spacing of the staves, and trip mechanism for retaining said frame and platen in a raised position in relation to said carrier.

5. In a music writing machine, a combination according to claim 1, and including secondary means operable independently of said swinging lever for rapid vertical adjustment of said platen into corresponding positions of upper (treble) and lower (bass) staves.

JAMES MURRAY PARKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

